I was flabbergasted that the London Road thought it was appropriate to sing Maguire's name loudly (the only time they were loud in fact) whilst the game was in progress including when he was attacking our goal! By all means give him a warm welcome before the game but not when the match has started and your own team are struggling (but not losing). Completely bizarre! I'm not condoning the shushing gestures which were obviously ill-advised but understand their point.

In fairness, the Maguire love (as I read it) was no comment on Clotet or the game - it was a genuine attempt to help tempt back a player who had done well for us before and with whom we are currently being linked (and Pep had previously not denied considering).

I didn’t boo the team, but we were shocking - and those who booed after half an hour were reflecting a general frustration at a dreadful game where we put the worst side in the league under zero pressure. I would have preferred them to have done so silently, but there we go.

The shushing really will go down as - at best - a mis-step by Clotet. As I said above, it’s one thing to do it when you turn a game round and win against a good side - but to do it when he did it, against a side like Bury, and for us to go on and lose makes HIM look like the eejit, not the fans he was silencing.

I would add that I too detect the same sense of xenophobia against Pep, and it’s completely fucking deplorable. Even with the shushing and the dreadful interview(s), Pep is still a far more decent man than many of the scumbags who are revelling in his current difficulties.

last week was a team I would not want in a relegation fight. no spirit.

yesterday showed some spirit but zero points again.

to state the obvious, we need some points quickly or the concern is this starts to feel like 2006, and we find ourselves in a relegation fight with teams that have had the siege mentality you need for that for some time.

if the appointment of a new manager has been held up by takeover talks,eales has done Us no favours. a while ago the appointment was seen as a ‘free hit’ by radio oxford, I doubt they think that now. we need a manager to steer Us away from trouble first and foremost, but if that’s a short term solution, we’ll have wasted a season.

If we could keep the odd clean sheet, I'd be sleeping easier - but we've not managed that since the Blackpool game, and we've conceded 17 goals in our last ten games (since the turn of the year). It's stating the bleedin' obvious, but we can't go on like that.

We did panic - we sacked our manager when we were 3 points off the play offs.

We would have had three fewer points now if Pep had stayed. Our wheels were off ages ago.

Oh right, just like they were off under Wilder, yeah? We got so much better when he left too.

I'm panicking much more now that we're managerless and rudderless than I ever did when Pep was in charge. I still don't really understand what went on there. Sacking Pep was a very un-Eales thing to do. I'm seriously starting to wonder who's making key decisions at the club. Is it other board members? Is it a new owner/investor? Does no-one else think it odd that Tiger was apparently wandering round near the dressing rooms and offices after last week's defeat?

Something is not right at OUFC. I can cope with a wasted season - after all we've been a little spoiled in the last few years, and you can't expect unhindered progress all the time. But I at least want to know who is owning and managing our club, and what their plans are.

Look again at the statement issued when Pep left:

"the search for a permanent replacement has already begun. The Board is focused on maintaining a challenge for promotion to the Championship and will make an announcement regarding a new Manager as soon as possible."

Hard to believe "The Board" is really focussed on that promotion challenge, isn't it?

I still don't really understand what went on there. Sacking Pep was a very un-Eales thing to do.

I read it differently. We'd all heard rumours of unhappy staff/players under Pep, and I'd imagine Eales had too and made his own enquiries. But I think the tipping point was vs Bury where we were not only abject, but there was "shush-gate". I said at the time, after all his work to improve relationships with the fans, Eales would surely have taken a very dim view of Pep's open hostility to the supporters. Far from the sacking being "a very un-Eales thing to do", it wouldn't surprise me one iota if the Chairman viewed Pep's behaviour as a form of misconduct. Even when MApp was struggling, he always stayed professional and dignified.

I remember Appleton slagging off the fans too - something about 'white noise' wasn't it? And also falling out with some players around the time we got humped by Cambridge. But he was supported unequivocally from above, and given the backing to make changes and bring players in (and ship others out) even when our league position was far more worrying than it ever got with Pep. I think you're right that there was stuff going on behind the scenes but I sense that Pep was never really supported by the board. Even from Day 1, when Chris Williams was the only club official present at his welcoming press conference. I feel a bit sorry for him to be honest.

Saturday saw a welcome change, a good performance against a side in good form. We could have drawn and people would have used that as a good starting point, regardless of performance. We had a good performance, the best since pre Christmas at home and we have a host of players on the way back from injuries.

New manager in this week. Off to Northampton and even if the result doesn't go our way, we'll still be fine............at the moment.

I remember Appleton slagging off the fans too - something about 'white noise' wasn't it? And also falling out with some players around the time we got humped by Cambridge. But he was supported unequivocally from above, and given the backing to make changes and bring players in (and ship others out) even when our league position was far more worrying than it ever got with Pep. I think you're right that there was stuff going on behind the scenes but I sense that Pep was never really supported by the board. Even from Day 1, when Chris Williams was the only club official present at his welcoming press conference. I feel a bit sorry for him to be honest.

Appleton’s “ white noise “ comment was much later on that season - March 2015 in fact:

We did panic - we sacked our manager when we were 3 points off the play offs.

We would have had three fewer points now if Pep had stayed. Our wheels were off ages ago.

Oh right, just like they were off under Wilder, yeah? We got so much better when he left too.

I'm panicking much more now that we're managerless and rudderless than I ever did when Pep was in charge. I still don't really understand what went on there. Sacking Pep was a very un-Eales thing to do. I'm seriously starting to wonder who's making key decisions at the club. Is it other board members? Is it a new owner/investor? Does no-one else think it odd that Tiger was apparently wandering round near the dressing rooms and offices after last week's defeat?

Something is not right at OUFC. I can cope with a wasted season - after all we've been a little spoiled in the last few years, and you can't expect unhindered progress all the time. But I at least want to know who is owning and managing our club, and what their plans are.

Look again at the statement issued when Pep left:

"the search for a permanent replacement has already begun. The Board is focused on maintaining a challenge for promotion to the Championship and will make an announcement regarding a new Manager as soon as possible."

Hard to believe "The Board" is really focussed on that promotion challenge, isn't it?

I have no regrets about Wilder going when he did. It was time for him to move on. I won't deny he's been incredible since, but I think he'd taken us as far as he was ever going to. He was bored of us and we were bored of him.

Would you have swapped the past two great seasons under Appleton for anything else over the previous 20 years?

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Shamefully. I've not been up to Minchery Farm this season (although I've done a fair few away games) so I'm not in with the gossip, apart from a titbit that everyone thought Pep was arrogant and aloof. But there is clearly something going on behind the scenes, and I fear until this is resolved, (and possibly after) we're in a right pickle.

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To be fair as well, I claimed I thought we were in trouble in Aug, Sept, Oct, Nov, and Dec. I knew we were in really big trouble when Curtis Nelson did his achilles, but even before then the lack of spine and fight in the team was apparent. My first alarm bells rang when we threw away a 3-1 lead against a league 2 team in August in the cup. Anyone with a bit of fight has beaten us this year, and that's a real worry as we approach the run-in.